After the Kentucky Legislature passed the Save Women’s Sports bill last month to prevent men who claim to be women from playing in women’s sports, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear vetoed it. This week, the Republican-controlled Legislature overwhelmingly overrode that veto in both houses, making it Kentucky law.
As the Washington Times reported:
The Senate voted 29-8 to override the veto of Senate Bill 83, known as the Save Women’s Sports Act, followed by the House, where the vote was 72-23. Kentucky only requires a simple majority of each chamber for a veto override.
“The General Assembly stands with female athletes all over the state of Kentucky and everywhere in this nation, and we want to encourage their hard work and achievements,” said Republican state Sen. Robby Mills, the bill’s sponsor.
The override makes Kentucky the 15th state to pass legislation regarding “transgender” athletes. Senate Bill 83 — which passed both houses in the state Legislature last month — prohibits male-born athletes from competing in female sports in grades 6-12 and college. In his veto statement, Beshear trotted out the usual liberal talking points, saying the bill was discriminatory and unnecessary and that it would “ban transgender children from participating in girls’ and women’s sports without presenting a single instance in Kentucky of a child gaining a competitive advantage as a result of sex reassignment.”
While a boy who calls himself a girl does have a “competitive advantage,” Beshear misses the point that there is more at stake here than that. Boys who pretend to be girls do not belong in the category of girls. They don’t belong in the restrooms, locker rooms, and shower rooms of girls. But — driven by political ideology instead of logic or any concern about truth — Beshear not only vetoed the bill, but demonized it in the process.
The override of his veto was a foregone conclusion, however. The bill had passed by a margin of 26-9 in the Senate and 70-23 in the House. Kentucky’s Family Foundation had urged a vote of the Legislature to override the veto, saying Beshear had prioritized “woke politics above ensuring fairness for the Commonwealth’s female athletes.”
After the override, David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation said, “Today is a great day for women and girls in Kentucky,” adding, “Biology matters and female athletes deserve a fair and level playing field.” He went on to say, “When males are allowed to compete in girls’ sports, they take championships, recognition, and opportunities that belong to female athletes. Thankfully, with SB 83 becoming law, girls in Kentucky can know they have a fair opportunity to compete and take advantage of sports opportunities meant for them.”
But while some celebrated the override, others took it hard.
Democrats in the Legislature followed the same tired, old talking points as did Beshear. Democratic state Senator Karen Berg said, “We are talking about 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old girls here in Kentucky who will be told that because they are transgender children, they are not allowed to participate with their classmates.” In typical liberal fashion, literally every clause in Berg’s statement is false. The “12-, 13-, and 14-year-old girls” she is addressing are not girls at all; they are boys. Furthermore, if they want to play sports, they are certainly “allowed to participate with their classmates” — they just must do so as boys or in co-ed sports programs. Nothing in the law prohibits them from doing so.
The Kentucky chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chimed in, as well. The group accused those legislators who voted for the override of “jeopardizing our children’s mental health, physical well-being, and ability to access educational opportunities comparable to their peers.”
And while appearing to threaten legal action, the ACLU took the same path as Beshear and Democrats in the Kentucky Legislature, stating:
Transgender and non-binary Kentuckians still have rights and are protected from discrimination under the US Constitution and other federal and state laws. Schools and athletics organizations must follow these laws and not exclude transgender students from participating fully in school activities.
Again, “transgender” students are not being excluded from anything and are not prohibited “from participating fully in school activities.” They just have to do so while aligning themselves with reality.
Beshear’s veto and the Legislature’s override illustrate that Democrats such as Beshear are out of touch with both reality and the will of the people. By prioritizing his party’s political agenda above truth and reality, Beshear is capitalizing on the very children he claims to be helping.
Fortunately, the Legislature’s override of Beshear’s veto means those children — all children in Kentucky’s public schools — have the truth on their side.
